Mr. President of the Republic, Élysée Palace, 55 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 PARIS, April 7, 2025, in Paris, Mr. President of the Republic, The Association of French Jurists for the Respect of International Law (JURDI) has learned from various concurring journalistic sources that an official Israeli government aircraft carrying the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, crossed French airspace on the night of Sunday, April 6, to Monday, April 7, 2025, without being intercepted, despite the international arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court. These sources indicate that the French authorities had previously granted the aircraft carrying Mr. Netanyahu permission to overfly our airspace on its journey from Hungary to the United States of America.
The French authorities are well aware that, under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the airspace of a State is an integral part of its territory over which it exercises its sovereignty. .
France must respect its obligations under the Rome Statute to which it is a party, as well as the decisions of the International Criminal Court, including the arrest warrant it issued against Mr. Netanyahu on November 21, 2024 for having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
France is indeed subject to the obligation to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court in its investigations and prosecutions (Articles 27 and 86 of the Rome Statute), which implies having to arrest any person targeted by an arrest warrant present on its territory, including in the air.
If this information from reliable and authoritative sources is accurate and confirmed, it would appear that France has seriously violated its international legal obligations as a State Party to the Rome Statute and bound by the decisions of the International Criminal Court. Such a violation would undermine the integrity of the Rome Statute and the authority of the International Criminal Court, and would call into question international criminal justice, international criminal law, and the fight against impunity for perpetrators of the most serious international crimes.
Article 1 «Sovereignty» of the Chicago Convention of December 7, 1944: «"The Contracting States" recognize that each State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory ".
Our association had already expressed to you, in a letter dated November 28, 2024, its deep concern regarding the official statement from the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs concerning its interpretation of the Rome Statute regarding the immunities of leaders of non-state parties, which was entirely contrary to France's international obligations in this matter. Unfortunately, this letter has not received a response. Our association reiterates its appeal for respect for these imperative obligations and urges you to shed, as soon as possible, all the necessary light on these serious allegations of a violation of the Rome Statute, by confirming or denying that formal authorization was indeed given to the plane carrying Mr. Netanyahu to use French airspace to travel to the United States of America on the night of Sunday, April 6, to Monday, April 7, 2025.
She also requests that no such authorization be issued in the future for a flight carrying Mr. Netanyahu or anyone wanted by the International Criminal Court.
In any event, France, like all other member states of the European Union, must have a clear and precise position on this matter. Finally, we ask France to confirm that it is respecting its legal obligation to execute arrest warrants and surrender to the Court any accused person if they are on its territory, including French airspace.
The President of JURDI,
Patrick ZAHND
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